When Angel's Weep
by The Bard2
Summary: It's Buffy's 25th birthday, and while some things change over the course of four years, Armageddon and demonic interruptions to the festivities stay the same.
1. The Tear Of An Angel

SERIES - When Angels Weep  
  
PART - 1  
  
TITLE: The Tear of an Angel  
  
AUTHOR'S NAME: The Sorcerer Bard  
  
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL: thesorcererbard@i-am-the-key.com  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
PAIRINGS: Tara/Dawn (20 years old) plus standard pairings of Spike/Buffy and Xander/Anya  
  
SUMMARY: It's Buffy's 25th birthday, and while some things change over the course of four years, Armageddon and demonic interruptions to the festivities stay the same.  
  
SPOILERS: None for the series I think [I haven't seen any of season 6 so you draw your own conclusions], one small one for Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon'  
  
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. I own the storyline and Zee-Ra, the Ha'leth and the Oh-th'Maakem.  
  
NOTES: 1) This is only my second attempt at a Tara/Dawn story so feedback is desperately wanted.  
  
2) This story is based on an idea from The Anonymus Reviewer and is set after Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon' [Read it if you can it's a great story].  
  
Major thanks go to Buffonia for beta'ing this story  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
When Angels Weep 1 - The Tear Of An Angel  
  
"Dawn!" Tara's voice interrupted my daydreaming.  
  
"Yeah?" I turned my attention to my beautiful blonde girlfriend.  
  
"I asked if you were ready to go."  
  
"Oh, yeah I am," I said as I stood and took a step towards her.  
  
"Um, sweetie, Spike and Xander survived planning this party together, the least we could do is show up with our pants on," said Tara, her amused gaze falling below my belly button.  
  
I glanced down and noticed that I was only wearing a pair of purple lace panties, "Oh!"  
  
I could hear Tara laughing as I rushed off to our bedroom. The denim skirt was lying on the bed, exactly where I had left it. I pulled it on and glanced in the mirror, just to make sure I looked presentable for Buffy's birthday. Satisfied, I headed down the hall to where Tara was patiently waiting.  
  
"Oh honey," she said as she looked me up and down, "You look ... Wow," I smiled at that and pulled her to me.  
  
She lightly brushed her lips across mine and the contact was like an electrical current crackling between us. I couldn't stand it anymore. I pressed my lips to hers as I ran my hands through her luxurious blonde hair. She melted into the embrace as my tongue probed into her receptive mouth.  
  
I don't know who broke the kiss first, me or Tara, but it was broken and we both pulled back to stare into each other's eyes. It was at that point I noticed that we were floating about a foot off the floor.  
  
"You know we should find a way to stop this from happening," I remarked as we floated slowly to the ground.  
  
"I don't know I think it's kind of romantic," Tara smiled at me.  
  
I responded with an almost identical smile.  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
Twenty minutes later we pulled up in front of Buffy's house in the car the gang had given me for my 18th birthday. Tara and I hopped out and made our way up the path towards the front porch.  
  
As we approached the door it swung open and there standing in it was my sister, Buffy.  
  
"Dawn!" she cried as she threw her arms wide for a hug.  
  
I obliged and enveloped her in my best sisterly embrace, "Happy birthday big sis," I said, pulling back slightly so I could look her in the eye.  
  
"Thanks," she said with a warm smile.  
  
"You're late Niblet," came an English voice from further inside.  
  
"Yeah sorry Spike but the traffic held us up."  
  
"Well, traffic can be like that," said Spike, moving forward slightly, "Just like it can do that to your lipstick," he smiled knowingly as he pointed to my lips.  
  
"I wasn't going to say anything," Buffy said matching Spike's smile.  
  
"You could have said something," I said throwing Tara a playfully annoyed look.  
  
"But you're so cute like that," she said with a smile that melted my heart. She looked to Buffy and Spike and nodded to them, "hey."  
  
"Hullo Traffic," he smirked at her.  
  
"Hey guys we moved the party from the doorway, to actually inside the house. Helped fill the 'none of us bursting into a vampire shaped ball of flame' requirement," came Xander's voice from just behind Spike.  
  
"Xand," I giggled as I stepped over the threshold and gave him a quick hug.  
  
"Xander," Tara said as she stepped in and gave him a hug too.  
  
"So is Willow here?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah, she's upstairs, Anya's helping her get dressed," Xander answered.  
  
"So Anya's not working today?" I asked, I still had a problem with Anya, ever since she became a vengeance demon again she seemed to have been becoming less and less humane.  
  
"Nope, she made D'Hoffryn swear on some ancient deity or other that he wouldn't send any work her way for the next 24 hours," Xander said, leading the way into the living room.  
  
The room hadn't changed much since I had lived there, and there, still hanging above the fireplace, was the photo of Buffy, Mom and me that I had given Buffy for her birthday five years ago.  
  
The furniture had been rearranged but that was a minor point. I took my usual seat on the couch, Tara sat down beside me and put her arm round my shoulders. Spike sat in his chair in the corner farthest from the sun and Buffy moved to sit in his lap, while Xander took a seat on the other couch.  
  
"So, Buffy, how's work?" I asked to break the ice.  
  
"Fine, boss said I should be promoted in the next round," Buffy answered.  
  
"Hey Dawny," came a weak yet recognizable voice from the stairs.  
  
"Willow," I cried as I got up and walked over to meet her. Her skin had an unhealthy greyish tint and her hair was still returning to it's natural colour from the stained black it had been when she absorbed the Dark Magicks a few years ago.  
  
"You're looking a lot better than the last time I saw you," I commented with a warm smile "Considering you looked like death slightly warmed up last time," I sadly thought to myself.  
  
"Thanks," she said, she reached out to take my arm for support. "Wanna be my really tall walking stick?"  
  
"Sure," I said with a smile, she leaned on me as I led her towards the others. Anya fell into step behind us.  
  
After helping Willow to sit on the couch next to Tara, I moved to the armrest on the other side of Tara while Anya took the seat beside Xander.  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
It was nearly dusk and we were all reminiscing about some of the good times of the past five years.  
  
"What about that soddin' sludge demon?" Spike asked with a smile.  
  
"Eww, that was so gross!" I exclaimed.  
  
We were suddenly interrupted by an excited knocking at the door. Buffy got up from Spike's lap and headed to answer it. Even as she approached the knocking became more and more frantic until it was almost a continuous noise.  
  
As Buffy opened the door a young woman came bursting in. She looked about my age and the front of her was covered in blood as if she had been stabbed. Then she collapsed to the floor, Buffy quickly kneeled down to help her.  
  
With the exception of Willow we rushed to join Buffy at the girl's side. There was a knife lodged into her back, below her right shoulder.  
  
"Oh my god," Xander choked out.  
  
"That's a ceremonial dagger," Tara softly said, her frightened gaze studying the weapon.  
  
"How did this happen?" asked Buffy while eyeing the wound with much concern.  
  
"Y-you ... m-must p-protect ... Zee-Ra," the girl gasped, there was a wet sound underneath her voice as if her lungs were filled with a thick fluid.  
  
"She's lost a lot of blood," Spike said sniffing the air.  
  
"Then we should ring an ambulance," I frantically suggested. Buffy and Spike glanced at each other, I realised they didn't need to say anything, it was too late and we were watching her die.  
  
"Who's Zee-Ra, and who did this to you?" Buffy asked.  
  
"T-the T-Tear of a-an A-Angel," she stammered, gasping still. There was a soft thud when her head dropped and body slumped forward. We watched helplessly as her eyes turned sightless and her breath escaped one last time.  
  
No one said anything. Over the years we had seen our share of death, but this was a haunting reminder.  
  
"What's that?" Anya asked as she knelt down beside Buffy. There was something in the woman's hand.  
  
"I don't know," Buffy said reaching for it, "It's a photo," she took it out of the dead hand and looked at it  
  
"There's some writing on the back," I commented.  
  
"Zee-Ra," Buffy read aloud and turned it over, "hey there's an address."  
  
From where I was kneeling I could see the photo, in it was a young dark skinned girl, maybe no more than 10 years old. I looked up at Buffy then at Spike, I noticed that he was frowning and sniffing.  
  
"Spike? What is it?" Buffy said, she had obviously noticed the frown too.  
  
"She doesn't smell human, at least not fully," he said.  
  
"No, I'd say she's part demon," Anya added.  
  
"How do you know?" Tara asked.  
  
"Well, I think I recognise that dagger," Anya said, "I believe it is the only thing that can kill a ..." she broke off with a frown on her face.  
  
"A what?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I can't remember," she sounded vaguely embarrassed about it.  
  
"We have to find this picture girl," I said as I got to my feet.  
  
"And bloody well soon, I'd wager," Spike said as he glanced out the window, "It's dusk. I guess I can play detective with the lot of you."  
  
As we stood the dead girl's body began to give off a crackling sound, I noticed that there were cracks appearing in her skin. Within seconds the body looked like nothing more than a pile of dry leaves.  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
Ten minutes later Spike, Buffy, Tara and I were in my car heading to the address on the back of the photo. Tara was in the passenger seat, hurriedly flipping through a book containing rituals that involved various daggers and athames. She had grabbed it quickly when we dropped Xander and Anya off at the Magic Box and I could tell by her frustrated sighs that she wasn't having much luck with it. Spike and Buffy were both sitting in silence in the back seat.  
  
Buffy's cellphone rang and she scrambled to answer it, "Yeah? ... Oh good...She's what? ... You've got to be kidding ... Gee, because hurrying wasn't in full effect, Xander." She snapped the phone shut and turned to Spike, "Have you ever heard of the Ha'leth?"  
  
"Yeah, nasty buggers," he said cautiously, "Why?"  
  
"That's who's after the girl, apparently she's some sort of saviour."  
  
"Who are the Ha'leth?" I asked, focusing on the street signs as I drove.  
  
"The Devil's Bandits, most ruthless band of demon blokes in existence," he said.  
  
"So what's the girl to them?" I asked as I turned onto the street we wanted.  
  
"She must be the Oh-th'Maakem," replied Spike, there was a large amount of worry in his voice as he continued, "The Saviour of Humanity."  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
To Be Continued... 


	2. Saviour of Humanity

SERIES - When Angels Weep  
  
PART - 2  
  
TITLE: Saviour of Humanity  
  
AUTHOR'S NAME: The Sorcerer Bard  
  
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL: thesorcererbard@i-am-the-key.com  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
PAIRINGS: Tara/Dawn (20 years old) plus standard pairings of Spike/Buffy and Xander/Anya  
  
SUMMARY: Zee-Ra has to be safeguarded, can the gang do it?  
  
SPOILERS: None for the series I think [I haven't seen any of season 6 so you draw your own conclusions].  
  
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. I own the storyline and Zee-Ra, the Ha'leth and the Oh-th'Maakem.  
  
NOTES: 1) This is only my second attempt at a Tara/Dawn story so feedback is desperately wanted.  
  
2) This story is based on an idea from The Anonymus Reviewer and is set after Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon' [Read it if you can it's a great story].  
  
3) If you notice some discontinuities and small changes in personalities near the end of this part don't worry, all will be explained (He, He, He, I'm pulling a Joss and hinting at things that are gonna happen further down the track).  
  
Major thanks go to Buffonia for beta'ing this story  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
When Angels Weep 2 - Saviour of Humanity  
  
"What do you mean the saviour of humanity?" Tara asked.  
  
"The blokes I heard from say the kid was born of a human mother and an angelic father."  
  
"Angelic? You mean an angel?" Buffy's brow lifted in disbelief.  
  
"Yeah, supposedly someone high up in the ranks. They say the Ha'leth have known of the kid's coming for millennia but they could never find out who the bloody parents would be."  
  
"Sounds like they were protected," I said.  
  
I pulled the car to a stop outside the address on the back of the photo.  
  
"Um so what's the plan?" asked Tara as she closed the book.  
  
"Well I'm bettin' she's alone in there," Spike commented.  
  
"Why's that?" Buffy looked at him inquisitively.  
  
"Coz the door's wide open and she's standin' in it," Spike smirked as he pointed at the door.  
  
We all turned to look and sure enough, the girl from the photo was standing there in the door, well in reality she was now walking down the path towards us.  
  
"You are the vampire slayer?" she said calmly looking at Buffy, her voice carried with it a maturity that was impossible for someone her age and her eyes were completely different to those in the photo, in real life her eyes were pure silver with no sign of whites, iris or pupil.  
  
"Yeah, my name's Buffy, what's yours?" I could tell from the tone of Buffy's voice that she was a little disconcerted by the gaze.  
  
"Syria," the girl answered. "Why if you are the vampire slayer do you have a vampire in the car with you?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You have a vampire sitting right there." Syria pointed at Spike. "Why?"  
  
"It's okay he's a good vampire."  
  
"There is no such thing," Syria replied, all this time her facial expression hadn't changed.  
  
"Hey, I bloody well resent that," Spike said defensively.  
  
"You should mind your language around minors," Syria said as she calmly flicked her hand in his direction. Spike let out a cry of surprise as a cut opened up on his cheek.  
  
"Henn found you." It was a statement not a question.  
  
Buffy must have assumed that Henn was the dead girl, "Yeah, she found us."  
  
"She is dead, correct?"  
  
"Yes," Buffy replied in a sad and slightly uncomfortable tone.  
  
"Do not worry, she served her purpose, she will now go to a better place," Syria looked at Tara and me then turned to glance at the house. "You should all come inside, we will draw attention out here." With that she turned around and made her way up to the house.  
  
I turned to Buffy. "Well?"  
  
"Well, we follow her obviously," Buffy said as she opened her door. "Coming?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Spike said following her out.  
  
"We'll be there in a sec," I said, leaning out the car window.  
  
"Okay but don't take too long."  
  
I watched them walk up the front path and into the house before turning to Tara, "Did you find anything?"  
  
"No," Tara sighed. "The only ritual that used a dagger even similar to the one that killed Henn can't be performed by anything other than a Greth demon."  
  
"And it couldn't have been one of them?"  
  
"They became extinct almost three thousand years ago."  
  
"No other leads?"  
  
"None," she hung her head, her tone was one of disappointment.  
  
"Hey." I put a finger under her chin and gently raised her head so I could look her in the eyes. "We'll find an answer."  
  
"But will we find it in time?"  
  
"We always do," I smiled at her, "We'd better get inside."  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
The hallway was a bit blandly decorated for my taste, I got the feeling that people didn't live there very much.  
  
As we walked into the hallway just inside the door, I saw Spike standing in the first doorway on my left.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"The kid's ballin' her eyes out," Spike pointed into the room.  
  
I glanced over Spike's shoulder into the room. There sitting on the couch was the girl with her head in her hands, her shoulders were quivering with each sob. Buffy sat next to her, gently patting her back in a comforting manner.  
  
"What happened?" Tara eyed the scene sorrowfully.  
  
"Dunno, we came in after her and then she just sat there, lowered her head and started wailin'."  
  
"Henn was my best friend." Syria gasped in between sobs. Her voice no longer held the mature quality it had when she had come out to the car.  
  
"Syria?" Buffy asked.  
  
Syria lifted her head and turned to Buffy, her eyes were no longer pure silver, they were now big, brown and puppy-dog like, "I'm not Syria, my name's Eve," she  
  
answered.  
  
Tara and I exchanged a knowing look, there was something familiar about the way she was acting.  
  
"Why did you call yourself Syria before?" Buffy asked with a frown.  
  
"I didn't, that was Syria."  
  
"Buffy," I called quietly.  
  
She looked up at me, her eyes full of bemusement.  
  
"Come here a sec."  
  
She got up and moved towards us, "Spike, Tara look after her."  
  
"Right then," Spike said moving into the room with Tara close behind.  
  
"What is it?" Buffy asked once we were out of earshot of the living room.  
  
"It looks like she may have multiple personalities."  
  
"How can you tell," her voice was laced with sarcasm, "We should get her to the magic shop. We can keep her safe there."  
  
"Well, relatively safe at least," I said with a weary smile.  
  
Buffy smirked before heading back to the living room.  
  
"Spike, we're taking Eve to the magic shop."  
  
"Why?" Spike asked incredulously.  
  
"So we can keep her safe." I frowned at him  
  
"Yeah, okay whatever," Spike stood up and stalked towards the door.  
  
"Come on Eve, we're going somewhere safe," Buffy held her hand out to Eve.  
  
"Okay," she said in a meek voice.  
  
Buffy, Dawn and I'll head back to our place and do some research on these Devil's Bandits," Tara said.  
  
"Okay," Buffy answered as we headed out of the house, Tara closed the door after us.  
  
Spike had placed Eve in his car and buckled her up and was now waiting behind the wheel while Buffy walked round and got in the passenger side.  
  
Tara and I headed to my car.  
  
"Research mode. Hmm this will be fun." Tara's voice carried something tough and hard under it.  
  
"Don't worry about it, we'll find out what we need." I slid my arm around her shoulders.  
  
When we reached the car I opened the door and held it for Tara to hop in, she favoured me with her sweetest smile, it was that smile that had pushed me over the edge and made me realise that I was deeply in love with her.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
To Be Continued In When Angels Weep 3 - Interludes And Flashbacks, Oh My! 


	3. Interludes And Flashbacks, Oh My!

SERIES - When Angels Weep  
  
PART - 3  
  
TITLE: Interludes And Flashbacks, Oh My!  
  
AUTHOR'S NAME: The Sorcerer Bard  
  
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL: thesorcererbard@i-am-the-key.com  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
PAIRINGS: Tara/Dawn (20 years old) plus standard pairings of Spike/Buffy and Xander/Anya  
  
SUMMARY: While Tara sleeps Dawn remembers, but did everything actually happen the way they remember?  
  
SPOILERS: None for the series I think [I haven't seen any of season 6 so you draw your own conclusions].  
  
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. I own the storyline and Zee- Ra, the Ha'leth and the Oh-th'Maakem.  
  
NOTES: 1) This is only my second attempt at a Tara/Dawn story so feedback is desperately wanted.  
  
2) This story is based on an idea from The Anonymus Reviewer and is set after Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon' [Read it if you can it's a great story].  
  
3) If you notice some discontinuities and small changes in personalities don't worry, all will be explained (He, He, He, I'm pulling a Joss and hinting at things that are gonna happen further down the track).  
  
4) This part is written in both first person ("Blah," I said. ) and third person ("Blah," Dawn said). The first person is what is happening in the present, and the third person is what has happened in the past.  
  
Major thanks go to The Anonymus Reviewer and Dawn Worshiper for beta'ing this story, and major thanks go to Buffonia for beta'ing the first two parts and giving me some great pointers.  
  
Summary of what I think should happen at the end of season 6 [needed to follow some of the flashback sequences]:  
  
Tara had been shot and killed by Warren in Buffy's house, Buffy too had been shot. Willow had succumbed to her darkest urges because of Tara's death, this had driven her over the edge and into the abyss of dark magick. Willow had saved Buffy, but she couldn't bring Tara back.  
  
To end her pain Willow set her mind to destroy the world, through any means she could. Xander was sent to try and talk her down, while Giles and Anya attempted to drain her magick. Xander had managed to talk Willow out of destroying the world, but Giles and Anya were unable to drain her magick. Willow still felt the need to bring Tara back, so she began to petition the darkest, most powerful and most vengeful of ancient deities.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
When Angels Weep 3 - Interludes And Flashbacks, Oh My!  
  
We were both seated around the table in our reading room, Tara was sitting there, looking all blonde and beautiful with her head buried in a thick volume of demonic lore. I could see her eyes were getting heavy, she was slowly drifting off to sleep. It was after two in the morning after all.  
  
I decided that I needed a boost of caffeine so I got up and headed to the kitchen for a Coke. When I got back to the library Tara's head was flat on the book and she was very lightly snoring.  
  
I sat back in by seat and watched her, remembering with each breath the every step along the path that ended right were we were now.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"Gods of the over-worlds, Gods of the under-worlds, hear my plea, hear my cry!" Willow, her hair a brilliant black color, stood in the middle of Restfield Cemetery, in front of the most sacred of crypts, "I beseech you give me what I request!"  
  
"YOUR REQUEST WILL BE CONSIDERED!" a powerful voice boomed.  
  
"My request is urgent!"  
  
"YOUR REQUEST WILL BE CONSIDERED IN DUE TIME!"  
  
"NO!" Willow rose from the ground her eyes alight with crackling power. The energy forced it's way along her arms and out through her hands arcing towards the crypt.  
  
An energy field appeared around the crypt, but it was no match for the force of the onslaught. The field collapsed and the crypt exploded in a shower of masonry.  
  
"WILLOW!" came Buffy's voice from behind her.  
  
"Leave me alone!" Willow floated round to face her best friend, energy crackled along her arms and leapt out to strike Buffy.  
  
The force of the blast flung the blonde across the cemetery and into a crypt.  
  
Xander who was standing off to the side of the crypt moved towards Buffy, "Will, think about what you're doing, this isn't you!"  
  
"How the hell would you know? You've been to wrapped up in first Anya then in getting away from her," Willow was barely whispering but her voice was carrying enough so it sounded like she was yelling.  
  
"Will," Buffy croaked as Xander helped her to sit up, "I know you miss her but you can't bring her back, you tried and you couldn't."  
  
Willow snarled, power crackled along her entire body, the air held the faint scent of ozone.  
  
"Stop!" came a female voice from the darkness, it carried the faintest hint of an accent under it, "You would kill your friends, just to bring her back?"  
  
"Yes!" Willow turned to face the voice.  
  
From the shadows came a lithe female form, with blonde hair down below her waist, "No one is worth that, not even God, your friends are what makes you, you."  
  
Power flared around Willow as the woman said those words, "She is!" the power arced from her hands towards the woman.  
  
"Défendez!" the woman cried and the air around her thickened and solidified into a transparent shield that easily deflected the crackling energy, "I am equal in strength to you, you cannot harm me. Tara isn't worth it. Besides you alone do not have the power, you know this."  
  
"I can get the power."  
  
"No, you alone cannot do it, but there may be a way..."  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"...And then they came to me," I muttered under my breath.  
  
At the sound of my voice Tara stirred but didn't wake, her eyes were moving rapidly as if she were dreaming, I wouldn't put it past her, every now and then recently she had been having bad dreams all stemming from that fateful day when Warren had killed her.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"... Are you willing to try?" the woman, who called herself Carmen, asked Dawn.  
  
"Let me see if I'm understanding this ... You want to use me as some kind of ... what did you call it ... a focus?" When Carmen nodded she continued, "To channel the power to bring Tara back?"  
  
"Correct," Carmen said, she was seated in Spike's usual chair in the corner of the Summers living room.  
  
"Why me?"  
  
"You are The Key," Carmen stood and walked towards her, "The living energy from which you were created enables you to channel the massive amounts of energy required."  
  
"I have one question," Buffy said from where she was standing by the couch, "How do you know this?"  
  
"I am a sorceress." she said as if that answered everything.  
  
Buffy looked to where Willow was huddled in her chair, she was shivering as if the temperature almost zero, "Are absolutely you sure it'll work?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Let's do it, " Dawn said in a determined tone, as she stood and took a step forward.  
  
"Are you sure?" Buffy asked turned to look her sister in the eye.  
  
"Tara was my friend, Willow is my friend, they both need help."  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Tara's body had been moved to the Sunnydale Memorial Morgue, it had been examined and scheduled for autopsy the next day.  
  
Buffy strode in followed by Dawn, Spike, Willow and Carmen. The plan was for Buffy and Spike to stand guard while the others performed the spell proposed by Carmen.  
  
As Buffy and Spike stood by the door, Carmen and Dawn led Willow towards where they had put the body.  
  
"Willow?" Dawn asked as she looked at the witch, "Are you ready?"  
  
"Yeah," her voice was weak but those around her could feel the strength behind it, "Lets do this."  
  
"Okay," Carmen reached for the drawer and pulled it open to reveal the still body of Tara, "Dawn you need to stand there," she said pointing to the head of the drawer, "And Willow you over there," she pointed to the other side of the drawer.  
  
"So what now?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Willow and I put a hand each on your shoulders and hold each others remaining hand, then you place your index finger on either side of her head, then the fun begins."  
  
"Goodie," Dawn said sarcastically.  
  
With some help the three of them were arranged as Carmen wanted and they started chanting, "Chi mai char mai Car hoo," over and over until the words became nothing more than noise, there was another sound building in the room, the thrum of power. As the sound grew the air became thick with ozone.  
  
Buffy and Spike glanced out the door, and then back at the three by Tara.  
  
"Dawn!" Buffy cried, the four were surrounded by a crackling field of purple energy.  
  
"No, luv they need to do this on their own," Spike grabbed her arm as she moved towards them.  
  
"But..." Buffy began as she looked into his face, it was etched with concern, for whom Buffy didn't know.  
  
As they watched the energy began to move outward, the ball growing larger with each passing second.  
  
"Should we..." Buffy jerked her thumb towards the door, Spike just shrugged.  
  
The energy reached them and there was a brilliant white flash that knocked them off their feet and into the wall.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"Dawn!" Tara jerked out of her sleep and sat bolt upright, her face turning to me.  
  
"What is it?" I moved to her side and slid my arm around her shoulders.  
  
"Y-you were r-remembering it?" she stammered.  
  
I knew the it she was referring to was her resurrection, "Yeah."  
  
Her eyes held a fear that I had never seen before, "Something's changed."  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
To Be Continued In When Angels Weep 4 - Worlds of Grey and Worlds of Blood 


	4. Worlds of Grey and Worlds of Blood

SERIES - When Angels Weep  
  
PART - 4  
  
TITLE: Worlds of Grey and Worlds of Blood  
  
AUTHOR: The Sorcerer Bard [ thesorcererbard@i-am-the-key.com ]  
  
CO-AUTHOR: Michelle Dawn [ MichelleDawnBot@hotmail.com ]  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
PAIRINGS: Tara/Dawn (20 years old) plus standard pairings of Spike/Buffy and Xander/Anya  
  
SUMMARY: Things have changed. But has anything actually be altered?  
  
SPOILERS: None for the series I think [I haven't seen any of season 6 so you draw your own conclusions].  
  
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. I own the storyline and Zee-Ra, the Ha'leth and the Oh-th'Maakem. Also Carmen is mine and no-one, I do mean NO-ONE, can use her for anything.  
  
NOTES: 1) This is only my second attempt at a Tara/Dawn story so feedback is desperately wanted.  
  
2) This story is based on an idea from The Anonymus Reviewer and is set after Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon' [Read it if you can it's a great story].  
  
3) If you notice some discontinuities and small changes in personalities don't worry, all will be explained (He, He, He, I'm pulling a Joss and hinting at things that are gonna happen further down the track).  
  
4) This part has a change in writing style from here on out it is written in third person due to the fact that Dawn isn't at all the places that the action is occurring..  
  
Summary of Chapter 4 - Tara fell asleep while researching, she dreamed of what happened to her at the end of season 6 on BtVS, she awoke with a start and exclaimed to Dawn that something had changed. Carmen was a sorceress that helped Willow and Dawn to set things right at the end of season 6.  
  
Major thanks go to The Anonymus Reviewer and Dawn Worshiper for beta'ing this story, and major thanks go to Buffonia for beta'ing the first two parts and giving me some great pointers and thanks must also go to my faithful DawnBot, Michelle Dawn, whose witty comments and sarcastic remarks have forced me to continue this story when I would have given up.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
When Angels Weep 3 - Worlds of Grey and Worlds of Blood  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
Tara's eyes held a fear that Dawn had never seen before, "Something's changed."  
  
"What? What's changed?" Dawn rubbed her hand on Tara's back gently, like you would a small frightened child.  
  
"I-I don't know."  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
Carmen stood on the hill over looking Sunnydale, after helping the slayer and her friends to bring back the sorceress she had taken off and headed to Paris, her place of birth almost a millennia ago.  
  
Carmen was a vampire, only she was not a normal one, having been a sorceress in life she had become something different when she had been turned. She still felt the need to feed, but it was controllable, she also had the ability to live on solid food unlike most vampires.  
  
As she stood there watching the town sleep she tried to figure out why she had come back to this small town in Southern California, ever since she had helped that dark haired sorceress resurrect her blonde girlfriend she had felt drawn to this place, this mouth to hell. 'What is drawing me here?' she asked herself.  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
"Dawn? What...?" Buffy was startled as Dawn and Tara burst into her house.  
  
"Something's been changed," her sister blurted out.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"We were doing research and Tara fell asleep when she woke up she knew that  
  
something had changed," Dawn was gasping for breath, "And then we sat down and went over everything that's happened over the last 5 years and I realised that I have a feeling that something's not right."  
  
"How could you know? I mean if something's changed then how could you know? If it's the past then it will have changed your memories."  
  
"I know but I just don't ..."  
  
"She's the Key," came Willow's voice from the stairs.  
  
"Will? What?"  
  
"Dawn's the Key she was forged to work the barriers between dimensions, and time is just another dimension, she'll be immune to any and all changes in the timeline," Willow's voice was a lot stronger that it was just 24 hours earlier.  
  
"Then how come Tara knows that something's changed too?" Dawn asked.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"But I do," came a voice from the open door.  
  
The gang turned to face the woman standing in the shadows cast by the door.  
  
"Carmen?" Willow peered at the woman.  
  
"Sorceress," the blonde woman said by way of greeting.  
  
"Why are you here?" Buffy asked as she walked towards her.  
  
"I was drawn here by something connected with what we did."  
  
"The resurrection spell?" Dawn moved up behind her sister.  
  
"It has connected me to one of you."  
  
"Me," Willow said in a quiet voice.  
  
"I believe so, yes."  
  
"Like it bonded me to Tara?" Dawn glanced her girlfriend.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"That's how Tara knows that something's changed," Buffy said.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Wow," Dawn said.  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
A figure stood outside the window, cloaked in shadow, looking at the five people inside as they talked, he realised that the last figure that arrived was a vampire and that she had power but she was not his quarry.  
  
The sixth figure in the room was his prey. He had wondered for a few seconds why the women could not see the other figure then he realised that his prey had shrouded itself, in other words it was invisible to all but other hunters.  
  
The figure watched as his prey moved towards the brunette that had rushed in earlier, he knew that the prey could sense the raw power radiating off the woman.  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
"What about Zee-Ra?" Dawn asked Carmen.  
  
"Zee-Ra? The Oh-th'Maakem?" when Dawn nodded she continued, "When I was young the Magick Guild of France called her the Harengs Rouges."  
  
"Okay my French is a bit rough," Buffy commented.  
  
Willow groaned softly, "The Red Herring."  
  
"You're kidding," Dawn exclaimed.  
  
"No, she herself is unimportant, it's her possible future that is important, that and her father."  
  
"Her father? Who's he?" Tara spoke for the first time since she and Dawn had arrived.  
  
"That I do not know, however..." Carmen was interrupted as the main window in the living room crashing inwards.  
  
"What the..." Buffy exclaimed as she whirled to face the light shadow that had come through the window.  
  
"Buffy!" Dawn cried, her voice was slightly strangled.  
  
Everyone in the room swung round to stare at the brunette. She was almost a foot off the floor and looked like she was being held from behind, but there was no- one near her.  
  
"Drop her!" the shadow that had come through the window snarled.  
  
Buffy could see a shape forming behind Dawn.  
  
"Never, she is the Key." the shape snarled back.  
  
Dawn glanced at Tara and suddenly time slowed to a crawl.  
  
"Dawn?" Dawn heard Tara's voice but her lips hadn't moved.  
  
Telepathy Dawn realised, "What do I do?" she thought back.  
  
"Remember the channelling exercises we tried?"  
  
"Oh gottchya." The second she thought that she felt Tara focusing her energies and giving Dawn a conduit to pull more power into herself. Dawn took that power and concentrated on the thing holding her, she reached her mind out and felt the aura of the thing, she used her mind to pry apart the shielding and thrust her own power into the thing.  
  
"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!" screamed the shape holding Dawn. With a audible pop it became solid and dropped Dawn. It looked like every picture of the devil Dawn had ever seen, the red skin, the goats legs, the short horns, the small black goatee, the pointed tail and the fiery pitchfork on his back.  
  
The shadow that had crashed through the window had also become solid. It looked like an angel, white flowing robe, glowing skin, golden circle above it's head. The only difference between it and most of the pictures was the long curved sword attached to it's back.  
  
The two stood there for a second before they leapt at each other screaming...  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
To Be Continued In When Angels Weep 5 - A Forgetful Fight 


	5. A Forgetful Fight

SERIES - When Angels Weep  
  
PART - 5  
  
TITLE: A Forgetful Fight  
  
AUTHOR: The Sorcerer Bard [ thesorcererbard@i-am-the-key.com ]  
  
CO-AUTHOR: Michelle Dawn [ MichelleDawnBot@hotmail.com ]  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
PAIRINGS: Tara/Dawn (20 years old) plus standard pairings of Spike/Buffy and Xander/Anya  
  
SUMMARY: Trouble at the Summers residence, how will it end?  
  
SPOILERS: None for the series I think [I haven't seen any of season 6 so you draw your own conclusions].  
  
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. I own the storyline and Zee-Ra, the Ha'leth and the Oh-th'Maakem. Also Carmen is mine and no-one, I do mean no-one, can use her for anything.  
  
NOTES: 1) This is only my second attempt at a Tara/Dawn story so feedback is desperately wanted.  
  
2) This story is based on an idea from The Anonymus Reviewer and is set after Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon' [Read it if you can it's a great story].  
  
3) If you notice some discontinuities and small changes in personalities don't worry, all will be explained (He, He, He, I'm pulling a Joss and hinting at things that are gonna happen further down the track).  
  
4) This part has two tributes in it. 1 to one of my favourite Sarah Michelle Gellar movie [Simply Irresistible] and the other to one of my other favourite TV series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. If you can find em email me at thesorcererbard@i-am- the- key.com and I'll give you a cookie :D.  
  
Major thanks go to The Anonymus Reviewer and Dawn Worshiper for beta'ing this story, and major thanks go to Buffonia for beta'ing the first two parts and giving me some great pointers and thanks must also go to my faithful DawnBot, Michelle Dawn, whose witty comments and sarcastic remarks have forced me to continue this story when I would have given up.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
When Angels Weep 5 - A Forgetful Fight  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
The angel and the devil stood there for a second before they leapt at each other screaming.  
  
"C'mon lets get out of here!" cried Carmen as she held her hand out to Willow.  
  
Tara crawled to Dawn and grasped her hand, "Wake up Dawnie," she murmured as the angel and the devil fought in very close to them.  
  
Dawn groaned as she sat up, "I wasn't asleep, I was checking my eyelids for holes."  
  
Tara smiled, but it was short lived as the fighters moved closer to them, Tara looked up and saw Buffy moving to stop the fighters.  
  
"Buffy no!" cried Carmen, "They're too strong for even you!"  
  
"But I can't just let them..."  
  
"You'll have to!"  
  
"C'mon Buffy," Dawn pleaded as she got to her feet and quickly moved over to where Carmen and Willow were standing, Tara followed closely behind her.  
  
Buffy had a pained look on her face but she was cautiously moved round the fighting duo.  
  
Carmen and Dawn reached out and grasped one of Buffy's hands as soon as she was within range and pulled her out the door.  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
"They'll destroy everything!" Buffy cried as they dragged her out to the street.  
  
"Better everything in there than us." Dawn commented.  
  
"They will not destroy everything, but they will damage lots of things," Carmen said.  
  
"Just how do you know all this?" Willow, who was still hanging on her arm, asked.  
  
"I've been around for a long time."  
  
"How long?"  
  
"Nine hundred and eighty six years."  
  
"That's a bit too long for a human," Tara pointed out.  
  
"I'm a vampire," Carmen said as her face morphed into it's demonic visage.  
  
"A vamp?" Willow almost leapt away from the blonde vampire.  
  
"What's your problem? You're a witch," Carmen sounded almost accusatory as her face morphed back to normal.  
  
"Not any more, I don't do magick."  
  
"Look babe, if the broom fits ride it."  
  
Willow just scowled at that.  
  
"Look this is fascinating but what do we do about the duelling duo in there?" Buffy asked, "Coz angels and devils are a bit out of my league."  
  
"They will be gone soon," Carmen said as she looked back at the house.  
  
"How do you know?" Buffy looked at the vampire.  
  
"Because for starters they're not angels and devils they're Guardian Warriors."  
  
"Guardian Warriors? What are they?"  
  
"They're warriors that have been battling since the beginning of time, they are a sub- species of Chronos Demons, they have the ability to move back and forth between time periods."  
  
"Time travel? You're kidding." Dawn looked very sceptical.  
  
"No, they cannot stay grounded for too long, which is how I know that they'll be gone soon."  
  
As Carmen finished there was a crash and the two warriors burst through the wall to the left of the main living room window. They landed on the grass and rolled down towards the sidewalk where the gathered group heard a rather final crack and the devil, or at least the demon that looked like a devil, suddenly burst into dust.  
  
Dawn glanced at Carmen and noticed that she had a surprised look on her face, she wondered for a split second how many things could surprise a vampire almost a thousand years old before she turned her attention back to the angel-like demon.  
  
"Buffy!" it was Xander's voice coming from behind them.  
  
Dawn noticed a silver blur rush past her and up to the angel, "Daddy!" Dawn realised suddenly that the blur was Eve.  
  
"Zee-Ra," the angel's voice was like an avalanche, it roared over and crashed down on the listeners, "You were supposed to be at home."  
  
"Henn is dead," the little girl sounded almost apologetic.  
  
"I see, that is different," at the sad look on Eve's face he continued, "It is okay you cannot predict these things," the angel rumbled as Xander and Anya finally caught up with Buffy and the gang.  
  
"We couldn't stop her, she just jumped up and ran out," Xander puffed.  
  
"That's her father?" Anya asked looking at the angel.  
  
"We must go now," the angel said looking at the gang, "We cannot allow you to retain any knowledge of our presence," with that a heavy fog descended over the seven onlookers...  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
Dawn awoke to the smell of pancakes wafting through the house. She glanced at the space in the bed next to her, not really expecting to see anyone.  
  
"Mmm, she's probably cooking odd shaped ones again," she smirked as she sat up.  
  
Dawn swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, stretching her body as she did so. A soft humming came echoing down the hallway, the sound brought a happy smile to Dawn's face.  
  
She followed the sound down to the kitchen, where her blonde girlfriend stood at the stove.  
  
Dawn snuck up and slid her arms round Tara's waist, "Morning sweetie."  
  
"And a good morning to you too honey," Tara twisted round so she could plant a quick kiss on the younger woman's lips before turning her concentration back to the cooking.  
  
"Does it really take that much effort to make pancakes?" Dawn asked moving off to sit at the kitchen table.  
  
"Just because you can't make them doesn't give you the right to criticize how I make them."  
  
Dawn let out a joyous laugh as Tara dished the pancakes onto a plate and placed them on the table in front of Dawn.  
  
"hey, do you remember what happened at Buffy's birthday party the other day?" Tara asked as she dished herself up some pancakes.  
  
"Um, we turned up, me with my lipstick smeared," Dawn threw an accusatory gaze at Tara who just smiled sweetly, "We had cake, candles, beer and cokes ... then we talked about stuff that had happened over the past five years ... then we ... um ... ah ... I can't remember."  
  
"See that's my problem too, I can't remember anything past our reminiscing," Tara took a bite of her pancakes.  
  
"A spell?" Dawn asked round a mouthful of pancake.  
  
"It could be," Tara looked thoughtful, "Perhaps we should ask the others and see if they can remember anything."  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
To Be Concluded In When Angels Weep 6 - Invalid Memories... 


	6. Invalid Memories

SERIES - When Angels Weep  
  
PART - 6  
  
TITLE: Invalid Memories  
  
AUTHOR: The Sorcerer Bard [ thesorcererbard@i-am-the-key.com ]  
  
CO-AUTHOR: Michelle Dawn [ MichelleDawnBot@hotmail.com ]  
  
RATING: PG-13  
  
PAIRINGS: Tara/Dawn (20 years old) plus standard pairings of Spike/Buffy and Xander/Anya  
  
SUMMARY: Things have changed but are they for the better?  
  
SPOILERS: None for the series I think [I haven't seen any of season 6 so you draw your own conclusions].  
  
DISCLAIMER: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. I own the storyline and Zee-Ra, the Ha'leth and the Oh-th'Maakem. Also Carmen is mine and no-one, I do mean no-one, can use her for anything.  
  
NOTES: 1) This is only my second attempt at a Tara/Dawn story so feedback is desperately wanted.  
  
2) This story is based on an idea from The Anonymus Reviewer and is set after Buffonia's story 'Zoom from the Moon' [Read it if you can it's a great story].  
  
Major thanks go to The Anonymus Reviewer and Dawn Worshiper for beta'ing this story, and major thanks go to Buffonia for beta'ing the first two parts and giving me some great pointers and thanks must also go to my faithful DawnBot, Michelle Dawn, whose witty comments and sarcastic remarks have forced me to continue this story when I would have given up.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
When Angels Weep 6 - Invalid Memories  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
Buffy was sitting on the couch reading a magazine when she heard someone coming down the stairs, she looked up and an involuntary gasp escaped her.  
  
There standing on the bottom step was Willow. Only it wasn't the Willow she had seen yesterday, that Willow had had blackish hair, a greyish tint to her skin and had walked with a slight stoop. This Willow had the same color hair she had had six years ago, her skin was a healthy pink and she stood tall and almost proud.  
  
"Willow? What happened?"  
  
"I don't know, I woke up and this was how I looked, I felt great," Willow moved towards Buffy, her walk was similar to a cat's, smooth and silky, "I feel great."  
  
"You look as good as you feel then."  
  
"She is better than that," came Carmen's voice from the stairs.  
  
"Carmen? What are you doing here?" Buffy looked over at the blonde.  
  
"I awoke here, beside Willow."  
  
"Willow? Have you got something to tell me?" Buffy looked at her best friend, who had a very smug look on her face.  
  
"I don't know," Willow looked back at Carmen with a mischievous smile, "Do I?"  
  
"Well, that's a problem, because I don't know either," Carmen frowned.  
  
Buffy watched Carmen as she moved toward Willow, she noted that the blonde stuck steadfastly to the shadows, "You're a vampire?"  
  
"Yes, she is," Willow looked very comfortable with that fact, in fact she looked almost too comfortable, "I figured it out when I awoke."  
  
"You've got no problem with that?"  
  
"No," Willow said looking Buffy directly in the eyes.  
  
"I'm not a normal vampire, I can control my need to feed and I have the ability to live on solid food." Carmen moved to take Spike's usual seat.  
  
At that moment Dawn and Tara came through the front door hand in hand.  
  
"Hey," Dawn called.  
  
"Morning," Tara said.  
  
"Hey guys," Willow called.  
  
As Dawn and Tara looked at her in what could only called amazement.  
  
"Willow?" Dawn said as she moved forward, "You look ... Great."  
  
"Thank you," Willow gave the younger woman a warm hug.  
  
"How?" Tara asked quietly, "I-I mean how did this happen?"  
  
"I don't know, as I told Buffy I woke up this morning and this was how I was."  
  
"Maybe it is connected to what we came here to talk about?" Dawn made it sound like a question. She glanced at Tara.  
  
"What did you come here to talk about?" asked Carmen.  
  
Dawn and Tara hadn't noticed her and were a little startled when she spoke.  
  
"We can't remember anything since Buffy's birthday," Dawn said.  
  
"That was ... was ... when was that?" Buffy asked, "For that matter what day is it?"  
  
"Thursday, that puts your birthday ... um ... two days ago." Willow answered looking at her watch.  
  
"So what exactly happened yesterday?" Buffy asked looking pointedly at Carmen.  
  
"You expect me to know? Je bidon pas croyez il!"  
  
"You can't believe what?" Dawn asked, before she realised that Carmen had spoken French, "Wait a sec, I don't speak French."  
  
"It seems you do now," Tara commented looking just as amazed as Dawn.  
  
"This is defiantly a spell of some sort," Dawn sat on the couch next to her sister.  
  
"A spell?" Carmen looked interested, "Wait ... there was a fight ... here ..."  
  
"Yesterday?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Nothing happened yesterday," Buffy said, "I woke had breakfast with Willow, went to work, which was uneventful and then I came home."  
  
"Where we had dinner, which was interrupted by Carmen, and later you went out on patrol while Carmen and I reminisced," Willow added.  
  
The life drained out of all five women's eyes and they all stared blankly for a second.  
  
"Where was I?" Willow asked.  
  
"You were telling us about your date with Carmen last night," Buffy supplied.  
  
"Oh that's right, it was wonderful, there were candles and wine and..."  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
The angel stood outside the Summers window for the second time in twenty four hours, he watched as his new memories filled the blank spaces left by the spell that removed their memories of Zee-Ra, himself and the prey.  
  
He was a bit disconcerted by the fact that they were only now taking effect, but at least they weren't going to investigate it.  
  
He stood there watching the redhead relating the details of a date between her and the blonde vampire. He head a sound like a pop beside him and he turned to face another man, this one was dressed as a knight from the era of Camelot.  
  
"We must go, the prey have broken through in the mid-thirty eighth century."  
  
"I am worried about them," the angel pointed in the window, "Their new memories are only now taking effect."  
  
"The young brunette is The Key and the others have all been exposed to it, that will interfere with the memory spell," the knight turned to leave, "Are you coming or are you going to stand here and watch them?"  
  
"I'm coming," the angel turned and followed the knight.  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
Dawn and Tara left the Summers house about twenty minutes later and headed towards Dawn's car.  
  
"You know it's really good to see Willow so happy again," Tara said as she hopped into the passenger seat.  
  
"Yeah, I thought after you were shot she would self destruct, but with Carmen's help we brought you back and you convinced her to enrol in that magickal detox center in Switzerland."  
  
"But when I told her that I wasn't going to get back together with her, the look on her face broke my heart."  
  
"I know, but she did get over it."  
  
"And I'm happy for her, and she's defiantly happy for herself," Tara smiled.  
  
"True."  
  
With that Dawn put the car in gear and headed off towards their home.  
  
___________________________________________________________________  
  
THE END!  
  
This maybe continued in a solely Dawn centred series "Guardian Warriors" anyone who wants to read it should join http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheDawningGroup as it will be posted there only.  
  
As I already have another story planned it will be a while before the continuation is posted. 


End file.
